Governor's proposal ensures students have choice
Last week, Governor Ron DeSantis revealed his “Framework for Freedom” budget, and it gives more freedom to Florida students to choose where they pursue their higher education degree. The proposed budget increases the EASE student voucher that helps students pay for college tuition at independent, nonprofit schools.
EASE is the Effective Access to Student Education grant program. It is a student voucher for higher education that ensures students and families have a choice when it comes to their education and their future. Currently, 43,000 students in Florida depend on EASE.
With EASE, state dollars do not go to fund the institutions or its programs. Instead, EASE follows the student.
This model is similar to the approach the Legislature is advancing for K-12 education. When announcing HB 1, a monumental expansion of school choice vouchers for students in elementary through high school, members said the bill promotes freedom and opportunity and allows every parent to make the best educational decision for their children.
With EASE, students can pursue their college degree in a Christ-centered environment, where their family values are reinforced and supported. More than 9,000 students who depend on EASE vouchers attend faith-based colleges and universities.
Many students depend on EASE to choose a university where classrooms have fewer students, enabling them to better focus and get the support they need. Other times, adult students depend on EASE to choose a school with a flexible schedule that enables them to balance the demands of their work or their families.
The value of the EASE voucher today is $2,000 per student. The governor’s proposed increase in the EASE student voucher for higher education puts more power in the hands of students with $2,500 per year to choose the path that is right for them.
Additional funding provided in the governor’s budget will provide students an extra $1,000 if they choose to pursue degrees in fields of high demand, such as education, STEM, nursing or health care.
With the severe labor shortage in many of these fields, it is essential to strengthen education and training opportunities for our future workforce to fill these jobs. Florida’s independent, nonprofit higher education institutions have the capability to adjust with market needs, and additional incentives through EASE can drive students to these high-demand fields.
Like the K-12 student vouchers, the EASE voucher has proven to promote choice and set students up for success, bringing great benefit to our state.
In the more than four decades since EASE was established, hundreds of thousands of Florida families have been able to attend college, earn their degree, launch a career and provide for their families.
While Florida’s independent colleges and universities accept more low-income students, they also produce higher starting salaries. With EASE, students can effectively break barriers to higher incomes. Of the top seven higher education institutions in Florida based on graduates’ average starting salary, six of them are independent colleges and universities.
The EASE voucher even benefits the broader economy of the Sunshine State. The 30 independent, nonprofit colleges and universities of Florida that accept EASE vouchers support 100,900 jobs for Florida families. An economic impact study conducted in 2021 found that EASE creates more than 21,000 jobs each year and generates $3.5 billion economic impact on Florida.
These jobs are critical as we’ve just entered a global recession. While we watch big tech organizations in California shed thousands of workers, we must protect the jobs we offer here in Florida.
On behalf of the 43,000 students per year who depend on EASE vouchers and the hundreds of thousands of Floridians who earned their degree with the support of EASE, I want to thank Governor DeSantis for investing in the future of this important program.
With his proposed Freedom for Framework budget, Florida students have greater power to choose the higher education path that is right for them.
Bob Boyd is the president and CEO of the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida, an association representing 30 SACS-accredited, nonprofit institutions that offer more than 190 campuses in Florida where students can earn certificates, associate's degrees, bachelor's degrees and graduate degrees.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Governor's proposal ensures students have choice
